The Sri Lankan government must reach a political settlement with Tamils in the North-East of the island and devolve power to the provinces as a matter of urgency, said the Financial Times.

In an editorial on Sunday, the Financial Times said the new government must now deal with “several legacy issues”. It continued to say:

“Most urgent is to reach a political settlement with the minority Tamils in the north and east. They must be convinced that the Sinhalese chauvinism practised by Mr Rajapaksa is over. Power is already devolved to some extent, but this may have to go further. Any settlement must also involve a credible inquiry into the final months of the civil war in 2009 when the government launched a crushing offensive against the Tamil Tigers. Its victory involved the shelling and bombing of civilians and other alleged atrocities. The UN estimates that 40,000 civilians died in the final stretch of the war.”

Noting that former president Mahinda Rajapaksa did not win the post of prime minister, the Financial Times said this “also opens up the possibility of the former strongman being investigated for both corruption and human rights violations”.

“Sri Lankans have voted for what could be a new era in a country that has seen too much tragedy and wasted potential,” the piece concluded. “The winners of the election must not squander this opportunity to set a better course.”

See the full editorial here.